


Grief

by meridian_rose (meridianrose)



Category: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
Genre: Gen, No Dialogue, Wakes & Funerals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-14
Updated: 2010-08-14
Packaged: 2017-11-05 00:02:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/399685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meridianrose/pseuds/meridian_rose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>post series, Dr Horrible attends a funeral. For the Whedonland 'Hush' no dialogue challenge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Grief

He dresses slowly, carefully. Black suit, black tie, white shirt. No gloves. The television set shows his picture above the FBI hotline number and he shrugs, puts on dark sunglasses.

It's a sunny morning, which means there's an even bigger crowd, all of them wanting to say they were there. This isn't just a funeral. This is history.

He can't risk getting too near and avoids the church entirely, where metal barriers and uniformed officers hold back the crowds surrounding the building. Instead he waits patiently by a tree, far from gravesite, but with a view of the place Penny will be laid to rest.

A collection has paid for a giant white marble monstrosity of a gravestone; an artist's rendering of what it will look like when finished stands near the freshly dug hole, more like a sales pitch than a memorial. It hasn't occurred to anyone that Penny would have rather the money gone to a charity.

Hammer's there, of course, a broken man. The mayor, too, capitalising on this media event. Strangers mourn her as if they knew her while the homeless who loved her are kept away, considered too unattractive for the cameras.

He can't hear the words of the priest over the crying and carrying on of the mourners. The police presence is an orderly blue barrier between his place under the ancient tree and the unfolding spectacle.

He stands there until the cameras move away and, their chance to be seen gone, the mourners leave. He waits until the sun reaches its zenith, and the gravediggers finish covering the coffin with soil. He wipes away a single tear and then he walks casually past the fresh grave, and tosses a single rose onto the soil.

He doesn't look back as he leaves the cemetery.


End file.
